PEOPLE throughout Kent and other parts of Britain observed three minutes’ silence at 11am today in memory of the victims of the US terrorist attacks.

Offices, shops, railway stations, airports, courts, schools and factories came to a total standstill.

The Queen and Prime Minister Tony Blair took part in the unprecedented gesture, along with bus drivers, shop assistants and suspects awaiting criminal trials.

The Queen was at Buckingham Palace, where the gates were closed so that no-one could enter or leave during the period of mourning.

Other members of the Royal Family and their staff observed the silence, while the Prime Minister and new Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith stood with other MPs in the Commons, which was in emergency session today to discuss the crisis.

MPs held up their debate for three minutes at the sound of nearby Big Ben chiming 11am.